THE source for news of bluegrass and old-time music events in Ireland - and more

03 October 2005

Roger Ryan's Country Cuts

Roger Ryan of the Country Music Association of Ireland sends the following country music news:

[October 2016]

The Annual Irish Steel Guitar Festival will take place at the Green Isle Hotel, Dublin, over the weekend of Sat Oct 15th and Sun Oct 16th. As usual it will feature the cream of Steel Guitar players from Ireland and all over Europe with U.S. Steel player Russ Hicks as the star attraction.The hotel is offering attractive weekend packages of accomodation etc for the festival.

Hank Wedel, who is a regular and very popular performer in Cork and surrounding areas, has released a fantastic new CD on the market called Living In The Land Of Love. All the 10 tracks on the album were written or co-written by Hank himself and the opening track 'Too Gone Too Young' is already receiving extensive airplay all over Ireland.

Barry & Holly Tashian & E-5 Band from Nashville, will begin a 2 weeks tour of Ireland on Oct. 19th. which includes the following dates in the Cork area;
Fri 21st. Recital @ City Library, Cork, @ 11.00am. Sat. 22nd. Rockies Club @ 9.30pm, Mon. 24th. The Village Arts Centre, Kilworth, Co. Cork, @ 8.15pm.
They will also perform at St.John's Theatre, Listowel, on Thursday Oct 20th, and the Library, Kilmacthomas, Co.Waterford, on Friday Oct. 21st. and the Bunratty Music Fest on Sun. Oct. 23rd.

On Friday Oct. 14th. @ 11.00am Peter Harrington will present a country music programme on the Life & Music of Cowboy Jack Clement, Singer, Songwriter, Producer, and Nashville Legend. This programme is part of a regular series on Country Music which takes place on the second Friday of every month at the Rory Gallagher section of the City Library, Grand Parade, and is open to the general public, with free admission.

Rattlesnake County run a weekly session called The Sundown Sessions at The Raven Bar, 100 South Main St, Cork. We play a broad mix of bluegrass, country, folk, Americana etc. We're there every Wednesday night at 9:30pm and the session is open to anybody to join in. If anyone around Cork wants to sit in on the session or listen, they're more than welcome! Here is a clip of us playing Caleb Meyer at the session - http://youtu.be/tDgNo2KWuiU Please visit our page - https://www.facebook.com/TheSundownSessionsAtTheRavenBar for more info This is a weekly jam (session) for all in the Cork area to get out and play, learn, teach and share.

On Sunday 9th October, @ 8pm the Cork Opera House will present 'Rolling Back The Years with Legends of the Showband Era'. Memories of famous dance hall nights will come flooding back on the night, from the Arcadia Cork to Redbarn in Youghal to the Lilac in Enniskeane to the Majorca in Crosshaven and the Stardust on the Grand Parade. It is a historic occasion on Sunday October 9th, not to be missed with the legendary Art Supple of the Victors, Joe Mac from the Dixies, a tribute to the late great Cork stars such as Brendan O’Brien and Glenn Curtin. Terry McCarthy with his beautiful voice from the Dixies and the famous Tony Stevens with such classics as ‘When We Were Young’. The wonderful East Cork trio Crystal Swing – Derek, Dervla and Mary - will be performing along with Cork comedy legends Noel Barrett and Pat Sullivan as Joint MCs.

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Country Cuts OCT. 2017.

Official Publication of Country Music Association of Ireland.

Grammy award-winning superstars Faith Hill and Tim McGraw have been announced as the first headliners for Country to Country 2018 and will be bringing their highly acclaimed and record setting Soul2Soul tour to this year’s event which will be stage at 3Arena Dublin on 9/10/11th March 2018. Faith Hill and Tim McGraw have been dominating the music charts since the early ‘90s. They began touring together in 1996 on McGraw’s Spontaneous Combustion tour. In 2000 they created the Soul2Soul franchise with their record-breaking 'Soul2Soul' tour, becoming that year’s top grossing and most successful U.S. tour. Their success continued in 2006-2007 when 'Soul2Soul II' returned to the road, which was the most attended tour of the year in any musical genre and remains the highest grossing multi-year North American tour in country music history. Faith Hill and Tim McGraw will be joined by a whole host of multi-platinum and acclaimed artists across the weekend. 2C is Europe’s biggest Country Music Festival. It brings three days of the best country music and programming with performances from the world’s best country stars as well as emerging talent from Nashville, Ireland & UK. Europe. Country to Country is now entering its sixth year with ever increasing popularity, and for the first time and due to popular demand, C2C Glasgow will take place at the SSE Hydro having outgrown the Clyde Auditorium.

Eamon McCann has released a new self penned single called 'Nobody Fillin' Their Shoes'. A contemplative question set in music challenging the modern shift away from the basic traditions of the genre in today's Country music. It is easy for radio listeners to recognise Eamon McCann’s unique 'easy' style of singing and in the opinion of his many fans and industry admirers alike he more than adequately fills the shoes of the greats and is rated as one of Ireland's top singers/ songwriters. Eamon is a member of the prestigious International Songwriters Guild.

Shania Twain will play one concert at the 3Arena Dublin on Wed Oct. 26th as part of her 2018 NOW tour. Willie Nelson's latest album, 'Willie Nelson And The Boys', features Willie and sons Micah and Lucas and will be released October 20th.

On Friday next Oct. 13th, John Nyhan will be the featured presenter at the monthly Country Music Circle in the City Library, Grand Parade, Cork, at 11 a.m. The title of John's presentation is 'Bill Monroe, The Father of Bluegrass Music, His Life & Music'.

Singer-songwriter Derek Ryan is set to become the first Irish country artist in over 30 years to release an album on vinyl, and it’s a move which is already striking a chord with fans from all generations. ‘Perfect Days’, which was released on 29th September 2017, features twelve of the singer’s self-penned songs, all specially remastered for vinyl release. And while music fans would be forgiven for associating vinyl records with the heyday of artists like Big Tom and Philomena Begley, according to Derek, vinyl is back in business.

Irish singer Claudine Day has released a new self penned single titled 'Flipside'. Some of you might already know that Claudine is the daughter of Irish 60s showband legend Eileen Reid (of The Cadets) and the adage regarding apples and trees is certainly evident here as well as a talent honed from a lifetime growing up in a talented family. Although no stranger to threading the boards herself with successful tours of Europe in various theatrical shows Claudine has turned her hand to Country music and recorded this track under the skilful production work of Stuart Grey at his wonderful Jealoustown studios just north of Dublin.

Two pioneer maestros of bluegrass music in Ireland bring it all back home with an Irish tour in November which includes a date at the Rockies Club on Saturday Nov. 4th and the beautifully appointed Kilworth Arts Centre, Kilworth, Co.Cork, on Monday Nov. 6th. Gerry Madigan and George Kaye made their separate marks on Ireland’s live music scene in two phenomenally successful bands of the late 1960s and 1970s, and both of them did it by opening the ears of ballroom audiences to the sounds of authentic Americana. The vibrant dancehall circuit, dominated by big showbands, was already changing under the influence of new bands with ‘Country & Irish’ instrumentation and repertoire. George Kaye, in the Smokey Mountain Ramblers, and Gerry Madigan in the Cotton Mill Boys pushed the envelope further, changed the way audiences viewed country music, and set new standards of excellence. Both are now domiciled abroad and are looking forward to bringing it all back home again later this year. Confirmed dates so far are, Rockies Club, Cork on Sat. Nov. 4th and Kilworth Arts Centre, Kilworth, Co.Cork, on Monday Nov 6th.

Almost 50 years since Johnny Cash introduced Folsom – and its prison – into the pop culture lexicon, the city is nearing the completion of an extensive outdoor tribute to the singer. The full Johnny Cash Trail is set to be unveiled Oct. 14. Spanning 2.5 miles, it links a series of existing trails and marks the route of a planned public art walk that will be lined with works commemorating the Man in Black. The first section of the trail, including the Johnny Cash Bridge designed after the East Gate guard tower of Folsom Prison, opened in 2014. The new 1.25-mile section joins with existing trails in Rodeo Park to provide cyclists, runners and pedestrians a route to Folsom’s historic district and the American Parkway Trail. 'First and foremost, the trail is a transportation and recreation facility in the city,' said Robert Goss, Folsom’s parks and recreations director. 'Secondarily, it’s a celebration of the guy that probably made Folsom more famous than anybody else. The song "Folsom Prison Blues" – everybody knows that song.'